Alison R Christian

I am an AV-rated shareholder at Christian Dichter & Sluga, P.C., a certified women-owned law firm in Phoenix, and my practice is dedicated to insurance coverage and bad faith litigation matters in Arizona and New Mexico. I listen to my clients in order to learn about their business needs, develop strategies to solve their problems, and provide them with big-firm caliber work without the big-firm price tag. Our firm has experienced lawyers licensed in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and we operate a joint venture firm in Las Vegas. We are the only women-owned member of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms in Arizona and look for opportunities to work with other businesses committed to diversity. 

In 2012, I co-founded a business development program to help women lawyers called “Ladder Down" (). The program is unique in both structure and content, and runs year-long with monthly sessions dedicated to instruction in three key areas: leadership, business development, and mentoring. The AADC received DRI’s 2013 SLDO Diversity Award for its support of Ladder Down. The DRI award honors the state and local defense organization that displays a significant commitment to diversity. I lecture frequently on empowering women lawyers.

After enjoying nine years and over 200 graduates in Phoenix, Arizona, Ladder Down partnered with the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel in 2016 to bring this successful program to other cities across the country, including San Franciso, Seattle, and Cleveland. In March 2022, the FDCC looks forward to a national launch of FDCC Ladder Down that will be open to women lawyers across the country!

I am very active in the local and national defense communities. I served as President of the Phi Beta Kappa Phoenix Association from 2008-2009, and served on the board of directors from 2007-2010. I also served as President of the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel Young Lawyers'​ Division from 2009-2010. I served on the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel Board of Directors as the Advocacy Luncheon Co-Chair for 11 years and was appointed to the Executive Committee in 2016. I served as President of the AADC from 2019-2021. In December 2014 I was appointed to serve on the DRI Membership Committee, and have proudly served DRI since. I was also admitted the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel in July 2015, as the youngest female attorney admitted to date. I am an active leader in the FDCC, serving as the Co-Chair for Ladder Down, the Vice Chair for the Professional Women's Forum, Co-Chair of Masters in Marketing, Vice Chair of Law Practice Management Section, and Co-Chair for Programming of the 2021 Insurance Industry Institute in New York.

I was a Southwest Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2012-2015 and joined the Super Lawyers list in the Insurance Coverage category in 2016, where I have been included ever since. I am also included in the Best Lawyers in America list for Arizona in the Insurance Litigation category. I was also recognized by Arizona Business Magazine as one of the most influential women in Arizona business, as the youngest of five honorees in the 2014 "Generation Next"​ category. In 2016, I was included among the Top 10 Most Influential Millennials in Arizona.